"I have been stuck in Juneau on the flights, and I think winter is the only time you couldn't do stuff there," she said. "It's so risky. But I feel confident we can pull stuff up in the fall."

As Synapse, Prunty has been bringing hip-hop to Anchorage since 2001. The last big act was Atmosphere and Brother Ali in September 2006. Two shows, one in Anchorage and another in Girdwood, sold out.

Synapse went on hiatus for a few months, as Prunty worked in marketing for Red Bull. But now she's back throwing shows. After the Juneau show, Del, Bukue One and DJ Zac Hendrix will play July 14 at the new bar The Anchor in Anchorage and July 15 at Wasabi's in Homer.

"I really want to bring hip-hop to Alaska," Prunty said. "I figured that people up here, especially in Girdwood, would connect with really positive music. That's what this is about.

"It's a risk worth taking," she said. "You give the artist a real experience, let them see beautiful places in Alaska."

Prunty moved to Girdwood in 2000 from the Chicago area. She planned to stay for the winter and learn to snowboard, but she quickly fell in love with paragliding. At the same time, she was having trouble getting her hip-hop fix.

"When I'd go out to bars, I'd drive in from Girdwood to Anchorage, and there would be no DJs spinning records, no hip-hop was played," Prunty said. "Apparently ecstasy had just hit. The rave scene was just starting when I got here. It was a whole mix of candy-goth ravers." After spending six months going to shows and seeing "the same band over and over again," Prunty decided to bring her own entertainment. She contacted a variety of hip-hop performers, including Del. Lateef, of Latyrx, e-mailed back four days later.

Synapse set up a huge nine-hour outdoor solstice show, "Apollo," in June 2001 at the Hilltop Ski Area. Roughly 350 people showed up, but Prunty lost $12,000.

"The show was great, but I lost my ass," she said. "I didn't know anything about doing a show. I was an idealist without any sense of the market." Since then, Synapse has thrown a ton of shows, including Greyboy, DJ Radar, Abstract Rude & Tribe Unique, Myka Nine, BusDriver, Pep Love and Domino, and more.

Synapse tried to pick up the White Stripes show, planned for Sept. 24 at the Egan Center in Anchorage. But by the time Prunty caught wind of the show, she was one day late to offer the bid.

"More and more is happening," Prunty said. "More artists are coming up here. The more the word spreads, the better."

Synapse is also spreading. Prunty and a few partners plan to take the company in additional directions in the future. One plan is to start bidding for shows a year in advance, and encourage artists to start their West Coast tours in Alaska.

"Why not start at the tippity-top?" Prunty said. "Get some (Alaska) shows that nobody gets today and then go to Whitehorse to Vancouver and go to Whistler. Then hit Seattle and Portland.

"It's not like they're stopping in Detroit," she said. "It's like, 'Ooooo, Alaska, that sounds fresh. Let's see what Alaska has to offer.'"